ˈcandle-wood
1. Resinous wood, splinters of which are burned to give light.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Candlewood, slips of pine about the thickness of the finger, used in New England....to burn instead of candles. 1857 Holland Bay Path xv. 168 The Candle-wood blazed cheerfully upon the hearth. |
2. A popular name of several trees which yield such wood: Californian C., Fouquiera splendens; Jamaica C., Gomphia guianensis; S. American C., Sciadophyllum capitatum; White and Black C. (of the West Indies), Amyris balsamifera.
| 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 62 Besides the Candle-Wood, we have..a certain red Wood which they call Coral-Wood. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 208 White Candlewood, or Rose-wood..The younger trees are frequently cut for firewood..they are full of resin, burn very freely and with a most agreeable smell. 1884 Miller Plant-n. |